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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (177011)	9/3/2001 2:14:29 PM
From: Mr. Palau	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Gore's team was so ground down that it did little to resist the next move by the other side, which Unger, the Bush lawyer, called his "Thanksgiving stuffing" operation. Unger's team of lawyers pushed the canvassing boards in strongly military counties to have the absentee ballots counted once again. He succeeded in 12 counties – most of them heavily Republican, and half home to huge military bases. Bush picked up 176 net votes in the stuffing, mainly when boards agreed to ignore missing postmarks or missing absentee applications, which are required by Florida law. washingtonpost.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (177011)	9/3/2001 2:17:18 PM
From: bosquedog	Respond to of 769667

Sept. 2, 2001, 6:53PM Press outsiders not enamored of CQ!!! small-town Crawford By MARILYN SCHWARTZ Dallas Morning News CRAWFORD -- The lunchtime atmosphere last week at the Coffee Station restaurant in Crawford (population 631) was interesting. There were tables piled with TV cameras and others where reporters were interviewing the locals. Three Crawford men were deep in discussion about the high school football team, and a waitress was being asked to explain one more time how just last week she waited on the president of the United States. It was friendly and cozy, with everyone aware that George W. Bush lives down the road. Then I looked up and did a double take. Going through the salad bar was a Rambo look-alike. He had on khakis, a white T-shirt and a giant gun strapped to his thigh. He was about to dip into the Thousand Island dressing when I walked up to him. "Why are you wearing that big gun?" I asked. "I couldn't help noting it's not usually something you need to help digest the chicken-fried steak." "Secret Service," he said, looking me straight in the eye. "Oh," I said. I've never seen the Secret Service so blatant. "There are outside men and inside men," he said. "I'm outside." Then he took his salad to a table with an even larger man. This one looked like Mr. Clean -- completely bald, bulging muscles and a giant gun strapped to the thigh. Everyone took this in stride. Ho hum, pass the ketchup. Crawford is a small place. People live there because there's lots of open country. They like that. It's the visitors who are complaining. Some of the press say there is nothing to do. It's so rural and so hot. They just don't get it. Frank Bruni, a writer for the New York Times, wrote some rather snide comments about the area. He said Waco, the nearest city, is "as notable for what it doesn't have -- a coast, a mountain, a Four Seasons Hotel -- as for what it does have -- a Dr Pepper Museum and heat." He even made fun of the Chamber of Commerce in Waco for giving goody bags to the press covering nearby Crawford. The chamber people also gave the press a welcome party and offered free river cruises. The Times reporter said they were profiteering. I guess that's the difference between Texas and New York. In Texas we call that hospitality. I am feeling protective about the people in and around Crawford because they are so nice and proud. It remains a small town that is letting the press set up shop in a school gym. "This is the last town near Waco where there are no housing developments," says Kirk Baird, co-owner of the Coffee Station. He's a friendly man who is very happy to live here. He says some of the town is happy with all the new attention but some are worried it might change. The Coffee Station is the only restaurant in town and has a convenience store on the side. It sells souvenirs, mostly coffee cups and T-shirts. There's a guest book. "We even had someone come in from Russia," a waitress says. The locals are friendly and happy that people are visiting. But they are being overwhelmed with requests for interviews. "I had to go to Waco at 7 in the morning for a (national) TV interview," said 19-year-old waitress Amber Davis. "That was OK, but I really don't like being on TV." When she brought my iced tea, she saw me pull out a notebook and seemed to look a little wary. "Well, I have done a lot of interviews," she said. "Sometimes it's not easy when we're so busy, but, sure, I'll talk to you." And she did, graciously. But still there are those mumblings from some rather provincial outsiders: "Who would want to live in this burg?" Well, right offhand, I would say the president of the United States.